EDMONTON — More than 250 guests were evacuated from the Weston Hotel in Edmonton Sunday morning after an exterior wall of the hotel collapsed into a vacant parking lot.
“The hotel would like to reiterate its appreciation of the assistance from all authorities and officials during yesterday’s incident. Our number-1 responsibility is providing our guests and associates a safe and comfortable environment,” said the Westin Hotel in a statement on Monday.
The city of Edmonton places onus on the building owners. “Ongoing building maintenance and operation is the responsibility of the building owner and is not something the city gets involved with,” said Eugene Gyorfi, director of Building Permits and Inspection Services. “Once a building is under construction, we have inspectors that go to the site a number of times to review the construction.” Once everything passes code, the city issues an occupancy permit.
Engineers determined there was no structural issue with the building and permitted guests back on site late Sunday afternoon. The area is currently blocked off with fencing, and traffic will be halted until demolition crews begin re-constructing the damaged area.
